Murdered OAU student: Adedoyin, 2 others to die by hanging

An Osun High Court on Tuesday in Osogbo sentenced the owner of Hilton Hotels, Rahman Adedoyin, to death by hanging over the murder of Timothy Adegoke, a postgraduate student of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU).

In her judgment, Justice Adepele Ojo also sentenced Kazeem Oyetunde and Adeniyi Aderogba to death by hanging for their involvement in the killing of Adegoke.

Mrs. Fatima Adebayo, the prosecution counsel from Femi Falana Chambers, urged the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing the seventh defendant, Adedeji Adesola.

The court adjourned until May 31 for the sentencing of Adesola.

Supreme reports that three other defendants—Magdalene Chiefuna, Oluwale Lawrence, and Kunle Adebayo—were, however, discharged and acquitted.

The judge said that Adedoyin was found guilty on counts 1, 2, 3, 7, 9, and 15 of conspiracy to murder, unlawful killing of Timothy Adegoke, and also disposing of and tampering with his corpse.

Ojo also ordered that the Hilton hotel in Ile-Ife be closed and forfeited to the state government.

She further said that the children of the deceased should be placed on scholarships until they join the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), and the bills should be paid by the estate of Rahman Adedoyin.

She added that the son of the hotel owner be placed on police and Interpol watch until he was apprehended and brought to face his trial.

The judge said that there were three applications pending from the defense counsel, and she needed to give her ruling as regards the legibility of Mr. Femi Falana and Mrs. Aisha Adepoju to prosecute the case.

In her ruling on the pending applications, Ojo explained that she did not see any interest in justice in granting the application and so held that the prosecution counsel had powers to prosecute the case.

She said that the application challenging the fiat issued to the prosecution counsel was misconceived and lacking in merit and was therefore dismissed accordingly.

Supreme reports that the suspects, who were arraigned on a 16-count charge that included conspiracy, murder, and felony, all pleaded not guilty to all the counts.

Supreme also reports that the case file number HOS/5C/2022, dated Feb. 14, 2022, and filed on Feb. 17, 2022, was substituted with HOS/5C/2022, dated Feb. 22, 2022, and filed on March 2, 2022.

Earlier during the trial, the State Prosecution Counsel, Mr. M. Omosun, had told the court that the defendants committed the offense sometimes between Nov. 5, 2021, and Nov. 7, 2021, within the Ile-Ife area in Osun.

Omosun said that the defendants, with others at large, conspired among themselves to kill Timothy Adegoke for unjust reasons.

“They also altered and cancelled the receipt number 9316,9316, which indicated that Timothy Adegoke lodgedin the in the Hilton Hotel, Ile Ife.

“The body of the deceased, his laptop,phones, and other belongings were dumped at an undisclosed place by the defendants to cover up their activities after he was allegedly murdered,” he said.

The prosecution counsel said that the offenses committed contravened Sections 324, 306, 315, 509, 516, 242, and 106 of the Criminal Code, Cap. 38, Vol. 11, Laws of Osun, 2004.

Omosun had also pleaded with the court to order the remand of the defendants in a correctional center due to the magnitude of the alleged offenses they committed.

The case file was later taken over by a human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), who prosecuted the case.

Adegoke was a postgraduate student at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU). He left Abuja on November 5, 2021, to sit for his last examination at the university inin Ile-Ife.

The deceased had lodged at Hilton hotels belonging to Rahman Adedoyin, where he allegedly lost his life and was declared missing on November 7, 2021, after his classmates discovered that he did not show up in class at the Moro Distance Learning Center of the university.

Also, the police investigation revealed that he had told his family of his plans to check into Hilton hotels in Ile-Ife, where he usually stayed whenever he arrived in Ife, but this was initially denied by the hotel management.

Supreme reports that others allegedly connected to the murder are still at large: Raheem Adedoyin (son), Esther Asigoh, and Quadiri Moshood.